The Summoning XIV

Nine am was our ETD, and it was only 9.10 am when we drove off towards Capelle. We'd collected the car at eight am, and it took surprisingly less time to lug everything down the stairs and close up behind us, leaving the kitties in the expert care of our neighbour Janny.
Keffie was ready for us when we drove into the parking garage beneath his home, and we loaded up his stuff. H'eldaran's stuff had been dropped off at our pad the night before, so we now had all the luggage. As H'eldaran still had to work that day, he wouldn't drive with us to the event. It was probably best, because we had trouble fitting everything inside the car.

After a little over two hours of driving, the necessary coffee breaks, and some fun songs (Nick Cave springs to mind) we arrived in Ommen. The town was quiet, the camping field not yet completely full. drahkan and anna_xanaphia had also just arrived, and saved us spots in the shadow for our tents. The temperature was already high, and would rise even more in the afternoon to a sweaty 30°C. But there was ample space to pitch our tent. Thanks to Drahkan, we had a spot in the shade on the opposite side of the field. The other option was to pitch the tents in the middle of the field, in the full blasting sunshine. We'd be bothered by bugs and wasps either way, and though the walk to the facilities would be longer, the shade would ensure we could sleep long enough to be well-rested. Around three pm the sun would shine on our tent and Keffie's tent, but Drahkan's tent would be in the shade all day.

We pitched the tents slowly. The heat was already murderous, and dragging the carts with heavy luggage over the field had been an ordeal in itself. We took our time and rested a lot. By the time the tents were pitched we still had to get some groceries, and NoKey stayed behind while the rest of us went into town to do the chores. We ran into a fries-shack and had some lunch as well, which was well-received as it was growing rather late.
After the in-check and weaponscheck and the groceries and a photoshoot we returned to the tents. Temperatures were still high, and we debated going IC versus making food. After a short discussion we decided to have some food first. All cooking would be done near the tents and though it had been four hours at most since most of us had lunch, the food (tofu, noodles, vegetables and a spicy tandoori sauce) was well-receieved.

( In character story )

I guess a lot more happened and I screwed up the timeline somewhat, but I got the gist of what happened written down. The play between the Pathfinders was really good, but as I wrote earlier this week I'm unsure why I was so tired. Perhaps it was just because I had dealt with a lot of stress recently. Perhaps it really isn't my kind of event. I don't know... but I had fun. I really enjoyed cooking on the camp stove, making breakfast for everyone, and generally hanging out with knives, fires and other crazy people.

Time-out was really late, and H'eldaran and I were time out before that. He had an injury - someone had stood on his shin in a battle the night previous - and I had a blistering headache and would still need to drive us home safely so I took some Ibuprofen and joined him at the tents. I even sent ghost_musician away because he was far, far too bouncy for my poor head. (Sorry, Ghost!)
We drove off at 7.30 pm, had a late dinner at Bellini's an hour later, and dropped people off one by one. The car was packed to the brim, really really full. The boys in the back had quivers with arrows between their legs and luggage breathing down their necks. I mean really full. But we got home safely after all, and that's what counts!